A good summary of the major Norse myths. My favorite chapters were those about Andvari's Ring and Sigurd the Dragonslayer, which I have read in a longer version as the Volsunga Saga.

Instead of leaving a generic glowing review, which this book deserves and has probably earned many times already, I want to mention two things that have impressed me in every Terry Pratchett book I've ever read. Pratchett, in his fantasy world, paints clearer pictures of what it is to be human, and to deal with other humans, than perhaps any other author that I know of. Every one of his characters, from the title actors to the one paragraph appearances, are full to the brim with both the best and worst parts of humanity, and even the stingy, shortsighted, self-centered people are described with so much care and sympathy that you almost feel sorry that they can't see their own faults. Pratchett was deeply aware of how petty and terrible we as a species can be. But he also knew how self-less, hardworking and brave we can be too- his stories make me feel like my actions matter. That it matters how I speak to others, and how I spent my time, and whether I decide to give to others rather than always working to serve myself. He also has such a gift of knowing what parts of a story to leave out. He makes painterly use of the fact that writing is not a visual media. His choices about what not to describe are masterly. When I finish one of his books, I feel the potential in myself to be a better storyteller and a better person.

Tackleford's kid detectives have a new case: nine babies have been stolen by a strange beast roaming the local forests. Luckily Sonny is a member of the Nature Folk club, and has been honing his tracking skills for years. Meanwhile, an adorable and bizarrely intelligent dog-like animal has shown up at Mildred's house, and she talks her parents into letting her keep it. Both of these creatures look stranger similar to the creatures that Mildred and Charlotte drew with the magic pencil they won at the fair... but the pencil went missing and now a big game hunter is after the Tackleford Beast. Just as hilarious and entertaining as the first in the series. Allison's writing of teen dialogue is gold.

Someone is setting empty barns on fire in the fields around Tackleford, and Linton and Sunny think this could be their next case. It's not nearly as fun to solve mysteries without Jack though, who has hardly been seen all summer now that he's dating Shauna. Charlotte and Mildred as similarly left to their own devices and in Shauna's absence they decide to domesticate the weird troll they found living under a bridge. He seems like a perfect man to set up with their new French teacher... if he's not the one setting all the fires, that is. Another pitch-perfect John Allison caper.

In possibly the strangest mystery yet in Tackleford, an unpopular new student (who eats only raw onions) begins converting every student in Griswald's Grammar school into- a friend? A minion? Only Shauna seems unaffected by this bizarre onion cult and it is up to her alone to save Charlotte, Jack, Sunny, Linton and Mildred- but from what?

This gory fantasy series follows Maika Halfwolf, a teenage surviver of the recent war between humans and her race, the Arcanics. Maika is haunted by the mystery of her mother's death, and so willingly allows herself to be captured by a sect of human witches to seek out information. These witches butcher Arcanics for the power drains from their deaths, but Maika has another power lurking in her blood as well. A demon is growing insider of her body and it hungers for destruction. This comic is beautifully drawn, but somewhat dark and angsty for my taste.

A foggy, haunted story of sisters, support and rediscovering traditions. Sweeter and less sad than I expected.

I read through this book in a rush in two days. A combination of addictive plot and very short chapters made it almost impossible to set down. It centers about the lives of three black women- Thais, a prostitute living in Alexandria around the year 300 BCE; Mer, a slave on a Haiti sugar plantation in the late 1700s and Jeanne, a dance hall girl living in Paris in the 1850s. Their lives, loves, and tragedies are woven together by the occasional influence of a Ginen goddess, who goes by many names. She moves through an ethereal river of space time, the salt roads. Under her domain are blood, sweat, tears, semen and all salt water seas. Thais, Mer and Jeanne live in worlds that cannot ignore bodily functions. They all hunger, thirst, wept, work, ache, revel in sex and try to wring as much out of life as they can.